Looking Forward...

The first year of my MBA journey at Ross has been an historic journey.  The internship search experience for me proved to be a short but very rewarding experience. As an Australian who has lived in four countries Nigeria, Kenya, India and Australia I was able to highlight my breadth of international experience and skillsets to secure a finance position in the Technology Industry in the Bay Area.

Coming from an accounting background, I look forward to enhancing finance skills and exploring if finance is indeed my true calling over the summer.  While I am still not aware of the project I will be working on or the managers I shall be working with, I have met several individuals who will be on the team in the company sell day and they are indeed an exciting bunch of individuals from some of the top business schools within the US.

The summer internship also allows me to develop networks in the Bay area. This will be helpful as I look at working on the west coast post MBA. While I will not be travelling as my peers in consulting do, I look forward to exploring California over the weekends – Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, Alcatraz come to my mind….and Vegas looms in the distance.

I am very excited about my summer and look forward to keeping everyone posted about my internship, my life experiences and my adventures in California.

Wk 9: See you next time, Bhutan!

It’s crunch time! I have only three weeks left in my internship here in Bhutan. I’m working non-stop to finish all my deliverables. I have three major deliverables (cost analysis for four benchmarked companies in different industries, standard cost of transportation of sand, and standard price for three natural resources products). I am 90% done with my cost analysis and about to start with creating my presentation material and report document. I met with my Director last week who, I am happy to say, liked the direction and content of my Rev1 output. This week, I plan to finish my two other deliverables. Yes, I am a bit worried about the time constraint that I have but I will not let this fact stress me. I will focus, will eat a lot (ha!), will listen to classical music (Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major Op. 92 and Mozart's Sonata in D major for two pianos on repeat), and will keep on working.

I studied hundreds of companies in different countries to find the best peer set for the four Bhutan companies. My benchmarking activity is very challenging, exhausting, but definitely a value-adding endeavor for my skill-building. My internship has taught me that, in these uncertain economic times, many companies are indeed diversifying their businesses to lessen the risk of profit losses. I found a company that not only offers extraction and trade of timber but also sells audio and visual electronics system and products. Another one is an airline company which also operates a call center for other companies. It will be interesting to explore after my internship the financial considerations of, strategies in, and limits of diversification.

I will not get a full-time job offer at Druk Holdings & Investments (DHI) because I am here on a semi-volunteer and fellowship work only. But, I still want to leave a very good impression about the quality of education and training at the Ross School of Business. Few Bhutanese know that the University of Michigan is one of the best schools in the US. It is time to introduce our great school to them. Go Blue!

This is my last blog entry here. I hope all the stakeholders at DHI and its four companies would like my final project output. I had a great time exploring a different culture and seeing the amazing sights in Bhutan. I will definitely go back here. See you around University of Michigan this fall! J

Wk 7: Almost done

I have just started the second half of my internship. I am in the thick of my cost benchmarking activities. This second phase of my project is very difficult because most of the comparable peers of the Bhutan companies are unlisted and therefore, do not disclose annual reports. This makes my job difficult in getting enough and relevant data to compare the cost of local companies with that of international companies.

Oh, and guess what? I have two new project deliverables! The CEO of a company I am studying informed me a couple of days ago. I am happy to have had a long conversation with a CEO to discuss business. It was interesting to hear his thoughts on the local market, business constraints, and potential growth opportunities. I am excited to hear that my new cost project deliverable would greatly help improve their operations. I am going to a forest this Saturday to observe the operations of the Natural Resources Development Corporation. I have five more weeks to finish all my projects.

On another note, I have been wearing Michigan gear almost every day hoping to meet a fellow Wolverine here. But, so far I have no luck in finding one.

What I did encounter is this:

Bhutanese: Where are you studying?

Jofresh: At Michigan

Bhutanese: Oh, Michigan State

Jofresh: (gasp!) No! At University of Michigan

Bhutanese: Ah…

Hmm… the locals seem to know Michigan State more than U of M…

Last week, the other interns went to a city 8 hours away from Thimphu to see a festival. I did not join them because I had work. Nevertheless, I went on another trip to a nearby city to see a different festival. We went to the Haa district. Below are some pictures of the colorful festival.

Waiting for the event to start

Opening ceremonies

Traditional song and dance

Stalls

Delicious buckwheat momos (dumplings filled with vegetables and cheese)

Internship ++

It's been a while, and it's been busier...

True, I've learnt a lot about the industry and how things are done. I'm also more comfortable with the people around me, who I work with, and also my daily tasks - therefore I finish my work faster. However, work never ends.

There are 13 interns within Market Risk Management and Analysis, some are PhD students (modelers), some are undergraduates (analyst) , and some are MBAs (corporate). The intern manager in my department gave us a new intern group project to use our skills cohesively to analyze crises. Yeah, that's vague.

My team tries to work on the different matrices and indices to look at the risk factors and correlations between crises. We're not set yet, but we have a solid game plan. I think this topic is very challenging. The fact that it's open ended made it more difficult, and with only 3 weeks to go, we're concerned that we will not have time to finish this. Most interns sacrifice their weekends to finish their current daily project already, with this additional project, we will have to prioritize on which one is the most important one.

Additionally, our buddy gave us this tip: the first half of the internship is about task quality, the second half is about networking. We're required to meet with different people from different departments to learn more about them, at the same time learn more about our department. That is time-consuming. There is so much to do in so little time.

While most people are enjoying the sun in NY City, I guess the Market Risk interns will have to enjoy the ultra-violet ray from our Bloomberg Screen.

Cheers!

Wk 5: Work + Fun at the Tiger's Nest

Wow, time really flies when you are having fun. I cannot believe that I am one-third done with my internship. I look forward to seeing my classmates again at school but I am also sad that my interesting, fun, and skill-building experience in Bhutan is almost over.

As always, I was busy with work these past two weeks. I continued my internal scan of the four Bhutan companies by studying cost trends, performing the tried and tested ratio analysis, and interviewing finance managers and CFOs. I am happy that the Bhutan companies have an open door policy. The top executives are all very accessible and helpful. They also do not sugarcoat financial results. It makes my job easier to know that I have the complete and accurate picture of their cost performance and activities.

Of course, I did not forget to have fun while working. An American lawyer, currently working at DHI, took me, my co-interns, and a visiting Berkeley MBA student, who did a project for DHI, to the most majestic place in Bhutan, the Tiger’s Nest. Taktsang Monastery, more popularly called the Tiger's Nest, is situated on a nearly vertical cliff at 3,000m altitude north of Paro in Bhutan. It is a prominent Himalayan Buddhist sacred site. Learn more about the Tiger’s Nest here.

I consider successfully hiking up to the Tiger’s Nest one of my best accomplishments to date. The climb up and down the steep mountain took four hours. It was raining that day so it was a very very slippery and difficult climb. I almost slipped a number of times and nearly fell face-down in the mud! Thankfully, I stuck my umbrella in the mud just in time to break my fall. Whew… The altitude also hampered my breathing and I was pitifully panting and taking deep breaths from my mouth. There were also numerous times when my legs refused to move another step but I stubbornly refused to give up. So, I pep-talked myself until my head convinced my legs to continue the hike. J I am happy that I persevered because I saw one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen in my life. The Tiger’s Nest, perched on top of a mountain and partially covered by clouds, is breathtaking! I will definitely not forget this climbing experience.

This is the mountain we climbed. Do you see the white monastery near the top?

No?

Well, here is a closer look at our destination. It is partially covered by clouds (yes, so high up)!

Starting the hike

Slippery trail

View from the top

A mini waterfall and many prayer flags

Almost there…

Finally, the Tiger’s Nest!

Wk 3: Hiking around Bhutan

The past two weeks have been a blur. I interviewed CFOs, researched comparative data, summarized project findings, and created preliminary cost profiles. The government-owned for-profit companies are so interesting that I could not help but ask numerous questions about the organization and business drivers. My project deals with finding opportunities for cash savings. The saved capital will allow the companies to carry out more investments and business expansion. I am excited and humbled with the chance to contribute to Bhutan’s development. As you might know, Bhutan is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. I am still waiting for more internal and external data to complete my analysis. I have nine more weeks to recommend remarkable cost strategies to Druk Holdings & Investments (DHI).

I am extremely proud to represent the University of Michigan and the Stephen M. Ross School of Business in Bhutan. Many top universities also send interns here. There are two other interns at DHI, a Stanford Law student and a Columbia Masters in Sustainable Development student. The three of us are sharing the large and homey office attic. J Besides my co-DHI interns, there are two Harvard Public Policy students in another government agency, the Gross National Happiness Commission. Three Berkeley MBA students also did a class project for DHI a couple of months ago. Yale also regularly sends graduate students to undertake diverse projects for the government. I am happy that the William Davidson Institute (WDI) at U-M was able to arrange my internship here so Michigan is also represented. Go Blue!

The arrival of my co-DHI interns signaled the start of my exploration of Bhutan. Last week, I hiked around Thimphu for seven hours! We climbed a mountain to visit the Motithang Takin Preserve. Takin is a goat-antelope and is the national animal of Bhutan.

We also visited the Thimphu Dzong (The Trashichodzong), which is the seat of the government and the headquarters of the clergy in the capital city. Beside the Dzong is the King’s Royal Residence. Unfortunately, pictures are not allowed to be taken of the place. I shot this picture while walking down a mountain. The Dzong is on the left while the Royal Residence is on the middle-right, covered by trees.

We also went to the world’s tallest Buddha, standing tall at 169ft. The site is still under construction.

And, we saw an archery competition in Paro, another town. Yes, they need to wear ghos, traditional Bhutanese dresses, when competing.

This weekend, we are trekking to the Tiger’s Nest, Bhutan’s most spectacular sacred site, and going to Punakha, the old capital of Bhutan. I heard the climb up the Tiger’s Nest is rigorous. I hope my lethargic body can handle the exercise. J

Week One

Only a week of the internship at Merrill has gone by....9 more weeks to go! I was busy the first three days of last week with an orientation required for all interns. There were students there who will be working all over the country (the networking skills that Ross has ingrained in me definitely came in handy). To be honest, it was kinda dry but that's neither here nor there. After the orientation, on Thursday, I had the pleasure of meeting the actual people I will be working with this summer. My manager's name is Rich and I work with two guys named Alex and Rafael. They are actually all pretty cool and I feel like we are developing a great relationship. I work on a huge sales desk. There are no cubicles in the office, just one big open space where everyone sits....kinda cool. My particular group works with concentrated equity. Our job is to create different structured products around this equity that are tailored to a clients specific needs. For example, a client may want to hedge against downside market risk. We can create a specialized product using derivatives to help him/her do this. In effect, our clients are actually financial advisors who have clients with large equity holdings. I am in the learning process right now, trying to figure out the ins and the outs of this business. It is interesting to me and I intend to ask a lot of questions! My office is located in the World Financial Center right on the Hudson River. When I look out the window, I see the Hudson on one side and the World Trade Center construction  on the other. The other day, I decided to walk home. It was absolutely beautiful walking along the river and looking at the water and New Jersey City on the other side. I walked all the way back to my cozy NYU dorm. With two roommates, one being a Ross student, we are packed into one room. It's cozy though and I am enjoying myself. Other than that, NYC is a crazy place, from the high roller night clubs to the underground subways. But I love it all. It's a great city with a lot of opportunity waiting to be taken. That's all for now, talk to you guys soon!

Wk 1: Hello from the Land of the Thunder Dragon!

I arrived in Bhutan on May 28 without my luggage. Thanks to Singapore Airlines (not!), my luggage was left behind in Singapore. Regardless of this hassle, my excitement went through the roof as soon as I stepped off the Druk Air plane at Paro International Airport. The sight that greeted me was breathtaking! Bhutan’s international airport is situated beside majestic mountains. The scenery on the way from Paro to Thimphu, the capital and where I will be staying, was also remarkable. I saw monasteries, lakes, valleys, and numerous mountains covered with green foliage. I am very happy to see the last great Himalayan kingdom!

The people here are very friendly and helpful. An officemate helped in retrieving back my luggage while another showed me the local market and the best restaurants. Because of her, I was able to buy my elixir, Diet Coke (hahaha…). And, another peer volunteered to give me daily rides to and from work. I am thankful for my new friends.

My internship started on May 30. As I mentioned in my first blog post, I will be conducting a cost analysis project for Druk Holdings & Investments. My first week at work was very productive. I learned more about the four government-owned for-profit companies in my project portfolio. I am eager to gain knowledge on the costs involved in four new industries: natural resources, financial services, telecommunications, and airlines. This project will truly enhance my problem-solving capability and broaden my business knowledge.

This week, I read the Annual Reports for the past five years of the DHI’s companies. Next week, I plan to conduct interviews with DHI’s executives so I would grasp a better understanding of the companies’ cost drivers and problems. I have also been in contact with a Kresge librarian provided by the William Davidson Institute (WDI) for my fellowship project. The librarian will help me in researching competitive and comparative data for the four DHI-owned companies.

I will update you again next week. I am now off to play basketball with some Bhutanese friends. J

P.S. Oh, I saw the King! Fine… I only saw his car but he was inside it when the car passed me! LOL! J

Excited for summer!

Hello blog readers! I am Jofresh, a Filipina MBA student. Prior to attending business school, I worked in the finance department of Intel Corporation’s Philippines and Malaysia offices for almost six years. My concentration at Ross is still finance but I am also learning more about strategic consulting.

My first year at Ross has just ended. It has been an amazing year filled with meeting new friends, watching football games (Go Blue!), working on school projects, and (of course) recruiting. I am very excited for my summer internship. I am fortunate to have received a William Davidson Institute (WDI) Global Impact Internship/Fellowship. The WDI is a non-profit research and educational institute at the University of Michigan dedicated to understanding and promoting actionable business and public policies in emerging markets. I want to learn more about International Business and WDI gave me the opportunity to do just that.

I will be working this summer in BHUTAN! J

I will be working for Druk Holding & Investments (DHI), a government agency established through a Royal Charter issued by His Majesty the King of Bhutan. DHI holds and manages the commercial companies of the government, makes new investments, raises funds, and promotes private sector development in Bhutan. I will be analyzing and benchmarking costs then, ultimately, recommending cost strategies to the government-owned commercial companies.

I am very excited to see the beautiful country and learn more Bhutan’s culture. I heard from last year’s WDI fellow that people in Bhutan are very friendly and that the sights are amazing. I am also excited to work on a project that merges finance with consulting. I am thankful for the opportunity to enhance my skills. My internship starts on May 30. Wish me luck! If you have questions about Ross, just leave a comment and I would glad to help.

Last Post!

(BBA, Fox Broadcasting)

Hey guys! It's Alyssa Fried. This past Wednesday was my last day at Fox. It was sad because obviously I don't want my internship to end and because two of my bosses were out of work, sick. However, we've been e-mailing and I know that we're going to keep in touch. This is one of the great things I am taking away from my internship at Fox. I have made so many connections in so many different departments in Fox Broadcasting.

I have learned so much at my internship with Fox, more than I ever could have hoped to have learned from a summer internship after my sophomore year. I learned about analysis of numbers, revenue analysis, planning sales, and what goes on before and after deals are made. Having my own projects to do, plus watching the other employees doing their projects helped me gain so much knowledge.

Another great thing that I am taking away from this internship is I am now extremely proficient in Excel. They taught me so many shortcuts, and after working on spreadsheets all day for six weeks, I feel like I know the ins and outs of Excel. I know this is going to be extremely useful for me in the future.

Something else that is going to be useful for me in the future is what they taught me about working with clients. They taught me that every client has their needs and requirements, and it is the company's job to fulfill them. One day I am going to use what they taught me to communicate with my clients and build client relations.

I think I showed my bosses my incredible work ethic and my desire to succeed. I think that I could have been a little less anxious about messing up and making mistakes, but looking back I think it was normal to be nervous in my first 'real' office job.

Now that my internship with Fox is over, I am going to be working for an accounting firm in New York City for three days a week. This accounting firm does the taxes for Broadway shows, so once again I will be working with the entertainment side of finance. I am very excited to see how this compares to my internship at Fox!

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their internships and their summers!

Last Weeks at Fox

(BBA, Fox Broadcasting)

Hey, it's Alyssa Fried, and this is a sad post for me. I only have one week left as an intern at Fox. Although my internship was short, about only six or seven weeks in length, I learned more working for Fox Broadcasting than I have at any other job that I have held in the past.

This week I traveled to a local ad agency with interns who work for Fox Cable. Tuesday we learned about media buying and today (Wednesday) we learned about media planning. Both were extremely interesting, but I was most intrigued by the presentation on media buying. The buyer who was presenting discussed his company's strategies and what they expect from the cable networks that they are buying spots from. This was so interesting to me because this was the other side of all the deals I had been watching my supervisors make in the past weeks. It was great to see both sides of the deal and really understand what each side wants. I think it is beneficial to know what each side is looking for because both the advertiser and the cable network want very specific thing for their company. To have a greater understanding of both sides would be very beneficial for everyone.

I am now very interested in these aspects of business. As I discussed with my supervisor today, this can be an 'exciting' side to finance because it deals with television and entertainment. Not only do you have to be able to create extremely detailed excel spreadsheets with various calculations, but you also have to be very familiar with the television shows that you are selling commercial spots for. You have to know who is watching them, and what types of products should be advertised in the commercial breaks during these shows.

This week I also learned a lot about what sort of information Nielsen sends out, and how this information is important for Fox Broadcasting. What many people don't realize is that there is a lot that goes on behind deciding what commercials should be broadcast in each television show, and where they should be placed.

What I have observed about Fox Broadcasting is that although there are many divisions on my floor, and even parts of our division that are located in Detroit, Chicago, and Los Angeles, everyone is connected. Everyone works together between divisions to make successful deals for the company and the clients. People from the sales department go to the research department and the sales planning department, and the revenue analysis department and then go to the finance department in Los Angeles, and then it all comes back around. It seems seamless. Everyone has their individual job and part in putting on television what the consumer wants to see and potentially, buy.

This is an industry and a company that I can see myself working for in the future, and I am sad to see my internship end.

First Two Weeks at UBS

Tomorrow (Friday 18 June) will officially mark the end of my first two weeks as an intern at UBS. As a sales and trading intern, I'm based out of Stamford, Connecticut.

Having decided to spend my summer living in Stamford rather than commuting from NYC ( a close 45 min train ride away), I've started to get a real feel for the city. It's in a lot of ways a classic New England town with old architecture and a certain sense of coziness and homely charm, but at the same time sophisticated in its targeted development towards becoming a thriving hub of corporate activity. The city is home to corporate bigwigs such as General Electric, Thomson Reuters, UBS, RBS and World Wrestling Entertainment. The corporates, with their shiny and modern offices, stand against the backdrop of smaller brick buildings housing local businesses, restaurants and small offices - an eclectic mix of the old and the new, of progress and old world charm.

Now, to work proper. The first week was spent in orientation and training, with standard 9-5 hours. Nothing too unusual here, just the standard networking events, icebreakers and lectures covering basic finance/econ classes. The second week saw interns start working on trading desks; Matched Principal Trading for me. For those unfamiliar with the term or the often confusing nomenclature of finance, matched prinicpal trading is in the business of pairing buyers and sellers of securities (corporate bonds mostly, in this case). As this is a new desk, I get to be involved in a lot of business development work. For instance, in the first three days I performed an analysis of customer order flow throughout the trading day to get a gauge of the available liquidity (or the number of buyers and sellers and the amount they want to transact in) offered on our platform.

My program consists of three rotations across three different desks, and I have two more weeks left with MPT. The nature of the work is similar to that of a startup and thus has a clearly defined purpose, which gives me the opportunity to make myself useful to some degree - more than an intern can ask for.

Sales Planning and Planning Sales

(BBA, Fox Broadcasting)

Hey it's Alyssa Fried! Last time I wrote I was still getting adjusted to being in the work place after a crazy few weeks of travel. Now that I am settled into my daily routine, everything is so much easier and I can focus fully on my internship. As the weeks have passed, I have found that I have finally got a routine down. I get on the train at 7:43 in Pleasantville, get off at Grand Central and walk the couple of blocks to 1211 Avenue of the Americas (or 47th and 6th). I ride the elevator to the twentieth floor and head right for my cubicle.

Although my cubicle is far from my supervisors and other people that I work with, at least one of them stops by my cubicle to check in and see how I am doing or if I have any questions. They are extremely helpful. There is an entire team of people who are so supportive and intent on teaching me the ways of their work. I have sat with every person while they did their work, and instead of getting annoyed by my presence, they have turned to me and explained every step of whatever they are doing. They encourage me to ask questions, and honestly I can say I have learned so much in these past three weeks.

My summer project is to help the Sales Planning and Revenue Analysis departments forecast revenues, analyze reports for optimal ways to make revenue, and enter estimates into report generating computer programs. One of the shows that I have been looking at is Glee. Last night, the finale aired, and according to Hollywood Insider, finished the year as the highest-rated season-ender for all freshman series! This is very exciting news. See here! http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2010/06/09/glee-finale-watched-by-nearly-11-million-viewers/

I love that this internship involves finance as well as entertainment, and I thoroughly enjoy doing my work and learning what my supervisors do. I'd say one of the hardest parts of the internship to date is getting my work done on time. It's not that I can't do the work, or it's too much to handle. It is that I am so nervous to make a mistake, and want all of work to be neat, perfect, and correct that I spend hours checking and rechecking. Everyone keeps telling me to take my time, but I can't help but feeling that I am not doing the projects fast enough. Hopefully I will become more confident in my work, and feel that I am attentive enough to not have to check my work 5-10 times. If all goes according to plan, I will be more confident in my work by the next post!

First Weeks at Fox!

(BBA, Fox Broadcasting)

Hey, it's Alyssa Fried again. The last time I wrote I was just days away from starting my internship at Fox Broadcasting, and here I am now almost two weeks into it! Things kind of got off to a crazy, hectic start. I traveled from Michigan to New York on Friday April 30th, and started orientation as a Sales Planning intern on Monday May 3rd. I was very nervous as I got off the train in Grand Central because even though I had been born and raised in a suburb of New York, close to the city, I was not very familiar with how to navigate the city alone. Despite my nerves, I arrived at the office on time and with no outside help. I already felt accomplished.

Orientation was very informative. I met individually with all of the people I would be working with and they showed me everything that they do for Fox, and gave me some background information about the company. I received tutorials, and I even got an assignment of my own, under supervision of course. The orientation lasted for two days, and on Thursday May 6th, I got on another plane to travel to Israel (personal travel). I arrived back in New York on Monday May 17th and had a day of rest before I returned to Fox that Wednesday. I was still a little jet-lagged but I was very excited for my first real day as an intern!

I arrived at the office at 9 AM and went straight to my supervisor's office. She set me up with a cubicle and a laptop and showed me all of the programs I would be using. This time is one of the busiest times of the year for Fox and other cable networks as it is the time of the Upfront. My job in helping with the Upfront is to utilize Excel and other programs to enter estimates and create spreadsheets for my supervisor to use. I felt very comfortable using Excel, and was excited to have my first project at hand. This internship will be giving me real experience in Finance as I will soon be working with media math.

Working at Fox has been a great experience so far. I love being in the city and feeling like a real business woman as I commute to work on the train. The environment in the office is so friendly and welcoming. All of the people that I work with make me feel very comfortable and are always available for questions. They all take their work very seriously, and are proud of what they do. Because of the working environment, and the people that have helped to create it, I am very proud to be working as an intern for Fox.

First Post Before Fox!

(BBA, Fox Broadcasting)

Hi everyone,

My name is Alyssa Fried and I am an American who is a rising BBA junior. This summer I am working for Fox Broadcasting in New York City. I will be working in both the Pricing and Revenue Analysis departments during one of the busiest times of the year for the company. I will be working on the pricing and strategic placing of commercials broadcasted on the Fox network. This internship will give me a background in both marketing and finance, which is something I am very excited about because it is going to give me the opportunity to work with numbers as well as a little bit of advertising. I am nervous about my commute to the city from Westchester which will be a very large expense for an unpaid internship. I am also a little apprehensive about working with media math, which I have not yet had the chance to do. Although I have not taken any Finance or Marketing classes thus far at Ross, I will be able to use my knowledge in other aspects of business to help me succeed. Overall, I know that this will be a great learning experience and I can not wait to challenge myself outside of Ross and the University of Michigan, and in a real work environment. I look forward to updating everyone on my experiences at Fox!

First Post

I am a BBA junior, and will be interning at UBS Sales & Trading, Fixed Income and Commodities this summer. Talking to seniors who have interned on trading desks in the past, it seems that most of my summer will be spent building relationships with co-workers and full time staff, as well as basic office tasks like photocopying, scanning, picking up coffee, and picking up food. Outside of this, a lot of downtime is to be expected between tasks, with the onus on interns to take the initiative and seek out more work to maximize their learning experience.

As of now, UBS has not given any details about what my summer project would be, hence no one in the intern class knows what it entails, must be done or even what to expect etc. Given the amount of down time expected at work, working on the project and tuning it up to a high quality product should not be a problem since plenty of time can be spent on it.

Working at UBS will be exciting as they have a trading floor the size of approximately two football fields, with all traders on the same space. Such an environment will definitely be exciting and highly charged when markets are open, and is something I look forward to being part of. On the other hand, working for the first time outside of home and in a foreign working culture will be a challenge that I foresee must be overcome.

Preparing for the summer

MBA at Sears Holdings Corporation in Chicago

Role / Function: Finance Senior Analyst; Corporate Finance
Working closely with a business unit, advising them on decisions based on financial information.

Hi! My name is Preeta John and I am an Indian student looking forward to sharing my summer internship experience on this blog.

I come from a background in architecture/design. Working in corporate finance is going to be a paradigm shift for me. The opportunity to work in retail is definitely exciting. I perceive tremendous potential to learn about the workings of a business unit in a large corporation. Most of my past work experience has been with small to medium firms, so Sears will give me access to a radically scaled-up and structured perspective.

As an international, this is my first experience of corporate America. I am expecting to be challenged and stretched by this internship. I also see tremendous opportunities for learning and growing, and also for going beyond the requirements to provide value above and beyond expectations. I believe my diverse background can be leveraged to provide my business unit with a fresh perspective.

The biggest challenge I face is embarking on a project in new territory while expecting a baby at the end of the internship. This internship is going to be a test of my ability to multi-task, prioritize and work with extreme efficiency. Somehow I am not nervous; just certain that I am going to do both jobs well.

I have spent a lot of time in preparation – getting logistics in order, finding an apartment, a doctor and a hospital, while also preparing myself for my professional tasks. I took a semester’s worth of work in Excel and a workshop in financial modeling. I feel confident that I have the basics and know where to look for the answers to complex problems.

Wish me well! I will keep you posted.